A New Beginning
by CrystalIceSweet
Summary: Desperate to fix the rift between them, Daiki Aomine decides to secretly follow Tamiko Kuroko to Seirin instead of going to Touou Academy, intending on surprising her. How will the team do with 2 members of the legendary Generation of Miracles as well as a hothead like Taiga Kagami. Fem!Kuroko. Strategist, Strong!Kuroko. Nice!Akashi. Revamped; same plot but now makes more sense.
1. A Change of Heart

Title: **A New Beginning**  
**Category:** Anime/Manga » Kuroko no Basuke  
**Author:** CrystalIceSweet  
**Language:** English, Rating: Rated: T  
**Genre:** Drama/General

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**A NEW BEGINNING**

**SUMMARY**

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Desperate to fix the rift between them, Daiki Aomine decides to secretly follow Tamiko Kuroko to Seirin instead of going to Touou Academy, intending on surprising her. This marks the beginning of their high school adventures. How will the team do with 2 members of the legendary Generation of Miracles as well as a hothead like Taiga Kagami. Will Aomine and Kuroko ever be friends again? Fem!Kuroko. This is AU.

**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Image found on Tumblr. All credits to the artist.

**Pairings: Aomine/Kuroko for now; may change. Will be up for vote.**

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**EDITS**

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**22/02/13: First of all, I have rewritten some major parts of this chapter. My first chapter was so awkward that I wanted to cry. I hope this one is better. If you've noticed, I have changed the summary a little bit but the main points are the same. **

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

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**A/N:** While reading this, please take in to consideration that this is my first Kuroko no Basket Fic. I'm still really new to this fandom so I will mess up character personalities and quirks. I will try to make things as canon as possible but please be patient with me and don't hesitate to point out if there are any glaring mistakes in their characterization.

Please enjoy;) Review to tell me what you think.

**I will be following the general timeline of the manga but there will be twists.**

**BETA REQUEST: **I need a Beta who KNOWS the series really, really well. Meaning he knows all the characters quicks and all that (or at least most of them) I will need them more for character characterization, plot continuation, and names than grammar. I'm new to this fandom as I said so I want a second opinion. If you are interested please comment or PM me. Thanks.

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**CHARACTER LIST**

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**Seirin High:**Tetsuya Kuroko; Daiki Aomine**;** Taiga Kagami; Teppei Kiyoshi; Junpei Hyouga; Shun Izuki; Riko Aida (Coach).

**Kaijo High: **Ryouta Kise; Yukio Kasamatsu; Yoshitaka Moriyama; Mitsuhiro Hayakawa; Genta Takeuchi

**Shoutoku High: **Shintarou Midorima; Kazunari Takao**; **Taisuke Outsubo**; **Kiyoshi Miyaji**; **Shinsuke Kimura**; **Masaaki Nakatani

**Touou Academy: **Shoichi Imayoshi**; **Ryou Sakurai**; **Kousuke Wakamatsu**; **Katsunori Harasawa

**Yosen High: **Atsushi Murasakibara; Tatsuya Himuro**; **Kenichi Okamura**; **Kensuke Fukui**; **Masako Araki

**Rakuzan High: **Seijurou Akashi**; **Kotarou Hayama**; **Reo Mibuchi**; **Eikichi Nebuya

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**CHAPTER 1 A CHANGE OF HEART**

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**- PAST -**

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**_The only one who can beat me is myself. - Daiki Aomine -_**

**_- Aomine Daiki -_**

Aomine may not be the sharpest crayon in the box but he was far from stupid or ignorant. He knew that he messed up the moment Tamiko started calling him by his last name. Because Tamiko never called him by his last name; not since that first time in first year when he had smiled at her and told her that they were going to be great friends. And they had been best friends, ever since then. They were in the same classes, they liked the same things, and he was the only one who doesn't seem to see through her as if she wasn't there. That's not to say he always notices her presence, because even he had difficulty with that at times, but he actually made the effort of remembering she was there, of trying to befriend her. It paid off because Tamiko ended up sending a lot time with him, even when they didn't have any practice.

Tamiko was a year younger than him but they were still in the same academic year; she had bright blue eyes, longish teal colored hair and a pretty face. She would never be what one called classically beautiful but she was cute in her own way. She was the strategist of the team, their only female regular and Aomine's partner. While Aomine specialized in shooting, Tamiko specialized in analyzing the other team for weaknesses, develop battle plans, and make sure the ball always lands in Aomine's hands on the court. She was his shadow, as she once called it, and he was her light. Her presence made him glow brighter and – according to some – made him a better person; they worked so well together that they could practically predict each other's moves before the other even made it themselves. They were called the Golden Duo by the team; a name that always made Aomine smile. Although no one really know who Aomine's partner was, the legendary duo play of the Golden Duo was almost as famous as the Generation of Miracles themselves (although people keep assuming that the second person in that Duo was either Kise or Atsushi). It was a pretty impressive achievement, Aomine concedes, and he couldn't have done it without Tamiko.

It shouldn't be surprising to learn, due to her success at being sneaky, her most well known feature surprisingly was her almost utter lack of presence.

Some people nicknamed Tamiko "the ghost". Although it had made the girl frown at the time, Aomine couldn't deny that it was pretty accurate. Tamiko was always the one sent on recon missions to other schools because she can blend in with anyone. She is never seen unless she wants you to see her; partly du to her weak presence, partly du to her being abnormally fast – product of 3 years of intense training with the other regulars. While her lack of presence did wonders for gathering intel, it created havoc on her dating life.

Boys tend to overlook her because they never seemed to realize she was there. Even the classmates that had been with her from freshman year to senior year, in the same homeroom doesn't even know she's there if she doesn't take the initiative and talk to them first. Selfishly, Aomine was pretty happy with the status quo, because if no one sees her, no one will notice how perfect she is and what a treasure she was. Aomine wasn't blind to her cuteness, but it was the way she could effortlessly run literal circles around him and the way she was a demon on the basketball court that had sparked the crush back in second year, and which was still going strong as ever.

Aomine has never been good with love, so it wasn't exactly surprising that he can't seem to remember when his feelings of companionship has turned in to something deeper; something more intimate. He couldn't remember when he went from just being glad to see Tamiko because she was great company to blushing bright red and stuttering when she paid him a compliment. And last of all, he couldn't remember when becoming her friend wasn't enough anymore and he was starting to desire for more. And, to tell the truth, Aomine had actually believed that "more" was a possibility after Tamiko gave him homemade chocolate for White Day their second year. Because, while Tamiko did gave chocolate to all her teammates, his gift was the only one that came in a heart box. If he was honest, back then, if it wasn't for the interfering powers of their coach, he would have actually broken down and admitted his feelings for her. But as it turns out, the Coach had decided that since he didn't have a date for White day, no one was allowed to enjoy it; in consequence he had scheduled double training that after noon. And after training, Tamiko had been so wiped out that she went home the moment it was over, not even stopping for a shower. Thus that boat had sailed. Aomine had believed that he would have other opportunities after that, but then, 3rd year came.

With 3rd year - meaning their last year in middle school - nothing felt the same anymore. For one thing, they were the big kids on campus, and that status held a thrill of its own. But the biggest change of all was the realization that the Generation of Miracles has gotten so strong, that he had gotten so strong, that there were no more worthy opponents for him out there. After that, it had all gotten down hill.

Aomine could remember starting to feel bored with matches; the excitement that used to run through his body before every game had disappeared. Training was tedious and repetitive; not to mention he felt no more motivation to get better. After all, there wasn't a target for him to beat; everyone in the middle school district admitted that they, Teikou Middle Basketball team, was the best of the best. And with so much power and so much fame, basketball has lost its appeal as Aomine lost his drive and passion for the game.

He went through the competitions almost robotically - the team worked so well together that no thinking was really necessary there were no need for strategy meetings either because none of the teams were good enough to warrant special treatments. Tamiko's job as a strategist has lost its importance the stronger they grew. His and Tamiko's Duo play had become unbeatable; no one could stop them because no one seem to be able to even keep track of the ball. He knew that if he wanted to not die of boredom during those games and at least feel a little challenge, he and Tamiko had to stop using their secret weapon - although not that secret.

Perhaps telling Tamiko to not pass to him during games hadn't been the best approach; perhaps, in retrospective, that, coupled with the fact that he had been ditching the last few trainings - Aomine stay didn't understand why Akashi was letting him getting away with this - it may have sent the wrong message. Aomine didn't want to hurt Tamiko; hell, that's the last thing he ever wanted. Tamiko was his partner, even when they won't be playing together. He needed Tamiko, not because he may just love her, because she was a constant in his life. Her friendship and companionship were one of the only things that made him smile anymore. And of course, being the idiot he was, he acted before thinking and destroyed the bond between them.

He may not know the extent of that damage, but he knew was that he was desperate to fix whatever broke between them.

So, Aomine did what he did best, he was going to do something about it. He had a plan; of course, he had a plan. He may not be a strategist like Tamiko but he was good at plans. The plan came to life when Aomine accidentally heard Momoi ask Tamiko why she wasn't going to schools veteran in the field of basketball like the rest of the team and going to Seirin High of all places. Tamiko answered that she wanted out of this "victory is everything" mentality before she started to hate basketball. In all honesty, he can see where she was coming from, because even him at times had felt how totally predictable the whole thing was. Tamiko was the second strongest player on the team, she too must have felt the lack of good challenges.

That day, Aomine had gone back home to check out Seirin; he was delighted to see that he hadn't missed the registration date yet even if some schools, like Touou, had already sent out admission letters. He didn't know where the idea of following her to Seirin came from maybe it was kind of a spur of the moment decision but it made more and more sense the longer he thought about it. Touou was a good school but he realized that he kind of want more in life than that. He knew that if he let Tamiko go, any chance of them going back to before was gone; any chance that they may become more was gone. People say that one can do anything for love and it looks like that Aomine would prove them right. He may not love Tamiko to the point of wanting to propose mariage or anyhting, but he truly believe that they could have something special; he wasn't about to let all that go.

Besides, he wanted to continue playing basketball with her; his temporary insanity (aka, him actually telling Tamiko he didn't need her passes) didn't mean he wanted the Golden Duo to just die in middle school. Him and Tamiko could do great things together, and even make it to professional level.

So with all that in mind, Aomine was decided. However, that doesn't mean he wanted everyone to know about it. He thought about telling her and the rest of the team of course, but something inside him wanted to keep it secret a little bit longer. Perhaps he wanted to surprise her; perhaps he just doesn't want to gave her the chance to say no; to reject him. Aomine may be a ladies' man, but when it came to someone he really liked, when it came to Tamiko, he was as awkward as a girl with her first crush. The teen knew that his windows of opportunity was slim. He couldn't afford to mess up by stumbling about.

This was it.

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_**- Tamiko Kuroko -**_

Tamiko sighed as she pushed open the gym's door, expecting to find it empty but was surprised to see it occupied. Aomine Daiki was actually practicing, his body already covered in sweat and looking as if he had already been there for hours already. Balls literally littered the floor around him, and she was sure that in a few minutes, he would have to start cleaning up or else he won't have any more balls to pull from the rack. But for the moment, despite the fact that their relationship was currently at its lowest, Tamiko took the time to admire him from afar just because he had probably not noticed her presence yet.

Even if she wasn't as emotionally expressive as other girls, Tamiko was still a teenage girl. In other words, hot boys with muscled bodies still held great appeal to her. She just doesn't flaunt her interest like everyone else. And as a teenage girl, Aomine Daiki was the epitome of the kind of boy that girls would drool over; athletic body, handsome features and a golden tan, Tamiko would have to be either asexual or dead to not feel something. Of course, since she works and studies with the guy at least 8 hours a day, she has learnt to keep her attraction a secret. They were friends and she wasn't about to let her hormones ruin their relationship for her. And besides, someone of Aomine's calibre will never notice a wallpaper like her. It isn't because she lacks confidence when she said that; it was the cold truth. She was confident enough in her basketball skills but her interpersonal skills leaves a lot of space for improvement.

Anyhow, Aomine may be handsome and all, but she considered him more of a brother than anything else. He was her best friend, the person she trusted the most in this world. At least that was what she had thought until that fateful day.

She was pulled out of her morose thoughts when Aomine, against her predictions, actually noticed her before she made herself known, and spoke up.

"Hey, fancy seeing you here," he greeted her, as lightly as possible, as if there was nothing wrong between them; as if they were best friends again. She resisted the urge to clobber him for that.

Instead she replied just as lightly:

"You're practicing. I thought you said no one could beat you but you. Why do you bother practicing?"

She couldn't help but smile internally when her words actually made him flinch. Good; he should feel bad.

"I..." he started, obviously not knowing what to say. She decided to put him out of his misery by cutting him off. She was here on a mission after all; she had been looking for Aomine for the past 5 minutes, since she needed to inform him that she was missing afternoon training to gather intel. She didn't know why Akashi bothered; it wasn't like Aomine cared anymore.

"I'm just here to tell you that the Captain has sent me to gather information on our next week's opponent. I probably won't be back until late afternoon so you don't have to worry. The rest of the team is already aware of this so I'll see you later."

With her mission completed, Tamiko turned to go.

She had expected him to just let her leave; she had expected a lot of things but she had not expected for him to reach her and pull her in to a hug.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled dejectedly against her hair, "I'm sorry for what happened; I will always need you and you know that."

Tamiko sighed. She pushed back a little and Aomine reluctantly let her go.

"Do I?" she asked, looking deeply in to his eyes.

Since he didn't respond, she sighed and shrugged.

"I have to go now, I'll see you later."

And then he surprised her the second time that day by asking to come along. He had never volunteered before; she knew it and he knew it. He had told her once how much he hated these recon missions. So Tamiko decided to be the bigger "man" and took the offer as the truce it was and nodded.

They were going to disband in a few month anyway; she was going to Seirin and he would most likely end up at Touou. After all they had already sent him a scholarship offer. They were going to go their seperate way so, it was understandable that she doesn't want to make these last few weeks together a battlefield.

As it turns out, it doesn't exactly work out that way.

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**_To Be Continued..._**

**OMAKE 1 - Junpei and Riko**

**_- Jumpei Hyouga - _**

"Riko," Junpei Hyouga, captain of Seirin's basketball team, groaned as he saw their manager still hard at work making promotional posters, "Go home; we still have time before term starts."

"I can't" Riko admitted, a strange expression on her face.

Hyougo felt his eyebrows rise up.

"What caused the change?" he asked, because just two days ago, Riko wasn't like this at all. Sure, she was still dedicated to her job but working until so late in the night? That's unlike her.

Riko hesitated a little before answering.

"I don't want to discourage you or anything but I heard from my friends in other schools that a lot of them have offered scholarships to the members of the generation of Miracles."

"That team of prodigies?"

"Yeah," Riko mumbled tiredly, "I know for a fact that Kaijo High got one, as well as Shutoku, Yosen and Rakuzan. They were already strong teams before but now…Anyway, I have to make sure to work hard to get some players this year if we want to make it far. Even if we can't afford any scholarships to get a member of that miracle team, I still believe we can still win with sheer determination and hard work."

Jumpei couldn't help but smile at that.

"That's the spirit! Alright, even if I'm tired, I'll help you out; you can't do this all by yourself."

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**Ending Notes**: I've decided to end the chapter here because he feels right. The next chapter will be rewritten as well to fit the plot better. Sorry for the trouble.


	2. The Beginning

**AUTHOR'S NOTES**

**This is a revamped version of my last chapter. I've changed the story elements a little so that things would flow better. That last one was just awkward. The first part with Junpei stayed the same, but the rest was changed. Don't hesitate to comment. Anyway the next real chapter will probably come sometime soon, please look out for it. Ok anyway. Enjoy and review:)**

**CHAPTER 2 THE BEGINNING**

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**- PRESENT -**

**High School 1st year**

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**Seirin High Start of Term - Morning**

**_- Junpei Hyouga -_**

People say that time passes when you have fun; Junpei Hyouga hadn't realized just how true it was before his summer had disappeared in the blink of an eye and he found himself, on Monday, dressed in his school uniform and getting ready for that morning's welcome back to school festivities.

As per tradition, Seirin organizes on the first day back to school, a sort of giant party to welcome old and new students alike. The party, brought to the students by the Student Union, had food, candy, games and of course the famous "blitz" where all the clubs would have a stand of their own, and would try their best to make people sign up. Some clubs were more extravagant than other; for example the art club always had these super cool paintings up on display and would, every year without fail, attract people purely based on how otherworldly it looked. The volleyball club had already won a title or so and was pretty popular as well. The basketball club however, was a bust. They were fairly new as clubs went; only two years old. They have no titles to speak of or any famous members to attract attention. Even neighboring schools seem to look down on them; finding practice matches was a headache for sure.

But this year, Hyouga was determined to work extra hard to get even more members than the previous year. After all, he can't let himself and Riko down…not when she had put so much effort in to it.

"Looking good, Riko," he called out encouragingly as he took in the kick-ass promotional poster the girl had made. The drawing on the poster might not be first class but it was well done enough so people can actually recognize that it was a basketball, "Need any help?"

"Sure," she replied, pointing to her bag, "I need you to get out some papers for me. The red folder contains sign up sheets for players; the blue one contains sign up sheets for the assistant coach position."

"Oh? You're looking for an assistant?"

"Yeah," Riko answered with a sigh, "I need all the help I can get; maybe an extra head will make it easier to plan out training regimes."

"I think you do a pretty good job by your own," Hyouga admits because it was true; despite not having had any formal education on how to be a basketball team coach, the things Riko comes up with usually targets pretty well every team members' needs. Hyouga knew he had to thank her father for her skill of being able to reag someone's stats just by looking at them. It was impressive for sure and they would have been lost without her. "But I guess an extra pair of hands would be useful."

Riko, for some reason groaned pathetically before flopping down against the table and slid in a sitting positing against of the legs. She rubbed her head as if trying to chase away a headache, before looking up at Hyouga.

"I've been doing this for the past 2 hours," she told him, "I need a break. Distract me"

For one moment, Hyouga was truly unable to think of something to distract Riko with when he remembered the sports magazine he had brought that morning.

He handed it to her.

"What is this?" Riko asked, as she took it and glanced at the title.

"Sports Today," he replied, "They did a piece on Teikou Middle and the Generation of miracles; want to see?"

She hesitated for a second before shrugging.

"Sure, why not? It would be good to know what we will be dealing with?"

Hyouga opened the magazine to the appropriate page for her.

The title of the article in question was: "Teikou Middle; A school of Legends." The first few paragraphs was a introduction to the school and its team. It told the reader about the number of club members, the number of consecutive championships wins and the facilities available for training. Then it went on talking about their most famous members. It was nothing that they didn't know before, so Hyouga was a little surprised when Riko exclaimed.

"Hey, wait a minute…what's this about a sixth member of the Generation of miracles? It's the first I've heard about it. It even say here that it's someone they recognize as superior; is that even possible?"

"Oh that," Hyouga dismissed with a hand, after realizing what she was talking about. That bit had surprised him as well, when he read it this morning in the train over, but the story was so inconsistent with any records of the Generation of Miracles that he could find, that Hyouga just chalked it off as mere speculation. After all, people do love a mystery. "I think it's a myth or something. Everyone knows the Generation of Miracles only have 5 members; remember that interview a year ago; the interviewer only interviewed 5 members; it there was a sixth, we would know. Beside if he were good enough for the Generation of Miracles to recognize, people would surely notice. "

"True," Riko mumbled as she continued to read, "They made him sound like a ghost."

"The phantom sixth player," Hyouga mocked as he took back his magazine, "that would make a great article. Too bad he doesn't exist. Come on, unfortunately break's over; I see Amada-Sensei coming. If she sees you sitting down, she would slap a detention on you for lazing about."

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**Seirin High Start of Term - Late Morning**

**_- Aomine Daiki -_**

"So this is Seirin," Aomine mused out loud as he took in the white buildings, wall high windows and expansive courtyard of his new home for next 3 years. For a school with no reputation to speak of, Seirin's facilities were quite impressive. For one thing, the main building didn't look like it was about to fall down any moment – Touou's library building was so old that it felt that way – and the courtyard wasn't so bare that it looked like parking lot. There were some trees here and there and grass too; a few of the older students were already lazing about, chatting and enjoying the late morning sun. All in all, it looked rather cozy. But to be honest, it didn't really matter if he liked Seirin or not; it was too late to change schools - it had already been a nightmare convincing his parents to let him go here; they had been really keen on him attending Touou. But at the end, his determination won; he was an official Seirin student from the moment he had rejected Touou's offer and applied to Seirin. He still wasn't sure if his plan would pay off; if he could get back what he had with Tamiko, but he will try his best to make the most out of everything.

"Hmm, I think the clubs are over there," he muttered to himself as he narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the numerous stalls set up in a parallel fashion some distance away. The "Club Area" of the festival was already crowded with students; moving in that sea of people would be impossible. Maybe, it would be better to wait a little bit before venturing in.

He wondered at that moment where Tamiko was. Was she already here or was she still at home? He knew he was here early because it was the only time his mother could drop him off. Tamiko came by train (Momoi had told him) and since he hadn't told her in advance that he was going to Seirin instead of Touou, he couldn't ask her to meet up with him so they can go sign up for basketball together. That was too bad but he figured he'd see her at tryouts anyway. He just can't wait to see her expression when she realizes that he was there.

He was still snickering to himself, imagining her reaction when a large hand landed on his shoulder. It took him everything not to jump, but he managed it. He should thank all the practice he got with Tamiko appearing out of nowhere most of the time.

"Hey," the owner of that hand said with a boyish smile, "Do you know where the basketball team stall is?"

_What a coincidence,_ Aomine thought to himself as he took in the tall figure with his flaming red hair and fiery eyes, _This guy actually looks like he could be good, with his height and all. Maybe Seirin won't be too bad._

"No, actually," Aomine admitted with a self-deprecating shrug, "I'm looking for it actually; we can go together if you want."

Although he hadn't been actively looking for the stall, he figured it would be nice to not have to look for it on his own and especially in this condition. This stranger, whoever he was, was huge and Aomine knew he could easily part the crowd of students to let them through. He wasn't one to not exploit such an advantage.

"That's fantastic," the guy cheered, "I'm Kagami by the way; Taiga Kagami. And you are?"

"Aomine Daiki," he introduced himself, only absent-mindedly noticing how the guy used a first name-last name combination instead of the usual last name-first name that Japanese people tends to prefer. This guy, he guessed, must be from abroad or something. "You from overseas?"

Kagami looked surprised at the question but nodded.

"Yeah, I'm back from the States," he explained, "I've been living for a few years now."

"So you've learnt basketball from the source; you must be good."

Kagami shrugged as they slowly made their way towards the action. His strides were larger than most people, due to his size but a seasoned athlete like Aomine didn't have any difficulty keeping pace. Atsushi had also been tall, perhaps even taller than Kagami, so if Aomine could keep up with him, Kagami was a piece of cake.

"Yeah, I could say I'm pretty good," Kagami admitted with a confident smirk, "What about you?"

He shrugged, his action mirroring his companion's a moment ago.

"I'm ok," he lied, not wanting to tell Kagami his reputation just yet; he would probably figure it out during tryouts, "I hope high school teams are stronger than middle school ones."

Kagami's smile brightened at that and for the next few minutes, he talked and talked about his middle school experience in the states. It was actually pretty interesting in Aomine's opinion. After all, he had never left Japan before; sure he planned on it in the future, but for now, he was pretty content staying near people he was familiar with.

With the both of them so involved in whatever they were discussing, they arrived at destination pretty fast.

The basketball team stand was slightly less decorated and way less populated than the other stalls. For example, the volleyball stall was so busy that you could barely see past that crowd of people. The art club stall looked pretty popular as well; it wasn't surprising considering all the cool artwork they put up. In comparison, the basketball team one was a desert; they stall was maintained by two people; a tall guy and a short girl with even shorter hair. The girl was alternating between answering the only student at their stand and shouting for people to join. That must be the coach, Aomine figured, since there wasn't any record of any female players on the team. The guy beside him must be the captain; from an information booklet he had picked up earlier, his name was Junpei Hyouga, a 2nd year as well. From what he could see, there weren't many third years in the club.

When he saw the student the coach had been talking to walked away, towards one of the food stands, Kagami made a move to go over. But before he can, Aomine suddenly had an idea. The coach would probably know who he was based on the interview he had given with the rest of the team, some time ago. And since he didn't want to ruin the surprise and reveal his identity just yet, Aomine asked if Kagami could sign up for him as well.

"I want to go to the washroom," he told the teen, "Here, that's how I write my name. I'll see you at tryouts."

Kagami shrugged, took the offered paper and headed to the stand alone. Once Aomine was sure the teen was gone, he turned around and left; he didn't really want to go to the bathroom but he didn't want to risk Kagami turning around and asking him why he was here. Besides, he saw a pretty nice food stand near the restrooms, he could always check them out.

With his plan in mind, Aomine turned the corner, just in time to miss a small bluenette heading towards where Kagami had headed a moment ago.

* * *

**_- Tamiko Kuroko - _**

Thanks to a map, Tamiko managed to find the basketball stand rather easy, otherwise without it, she knew she would still be looking around for directions. She may be good at finding her way, but Seirin was frankly huge. If she thought Teikou was impressive back in her middle school days, she just never saw something more impressive.

The basketball team stand was right around a corner and was maintained only by 2 students. She headed over and just as she walked up to it, she could have sworn she saw a dark-headed tanned teen that looked exactly like Aomine walk away. But since that was impossible, she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Aomine couldn't be here; he was at Touou, probably already signed up with his new basketball team. She tried not to feel annoyed at that; Aomine had made his choice, he had gone to Touou and they hadn't managed to savage their relationship. She was going to move on; she wasn't going to let something like this ruin her day. She was going to have fun playing with Seirin and everything would be great.

Once the huge red-head finally left the stall, Tamiko made her way over. And just as she had expected, she had to say "excuse-me" 3 times before the girl on the other side of the table, notices her. When she did, she yelped in shock and immediately started apologizing.

"God, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you."

"It's ok," Tamiko replied with a shrug, already used to it, "I'm here for the basketball team."

The girl and the guy both looked surprised at her words, making her wonder just what was the reason they were thinking she was here for. But to their credits, both recovered quickly enough. Unfortunately, their expression turned even more apologetic as the boy beside him – Hyouga Junpei, according to his nametag – answered:

"Actually we were just cleaning up to leave. I'm sorry, but you're too late. The last two places have been taken."

"You have a limit on the number of people signing up?" she asked in surprise; she had never thought that it was possible.

"I know it's weird, but Seirin isn't exactly rich and the direction decided to put most of their budget in to construction. Classrooms here are great but the sports facilities are pretty mediocre. The gym we have is pretty small and since the tryouts are going to be held there, the direction told us that they don't really have money for insurance and all that stuff, so we will have to limit the number of applicants to 50. Any more and the gym might get too crowded and people can get hurt. I don't really understand how that's possible with just one more student but we will get disbanded if we do not follow the rules. And believe me, the Dean will know."

"Oh," Tamiko muttered dejectedly as she sighed. And she had been so looking forward to playing too. Now, it looks like she won't even have the chance to try out; first, she was being haunted by Aomine's ghost and now she couldn't even get on Seirin's team; can her day get any worse?

Luckily, Riko must have taken pity on her because she immediately added.

"But you can still be on the team if you want. I'm looking for an assistant-coach for the year, if you're interested and know the rules, I'll be glad to have you. It would be good to have more female company around here." The last bout of the sentence was directed at her companion, who just shrugged and smiled back good-naturedly. It was obvious by the way they interacted that they were best friends; they were just so confortable that it reminded her of her own relationship with Aomine before the fall-out. And as usual, the moment she thought about it, she started to feel depressed.

"No," she told herself mentally, "You're in high school now; your middle school days are over. It's time to move on." Perhaps, it was that sentiment that prompted her to agree. Besides, she was pretty good at coaching herself; she had been the strategist of their old team and she figured her job wouldn't be that different in this team. At least, she gets to be involved in the action.

She knew she made the right choice when Riko's eyes lighted up and a huge smile etched its way across her features, almost as if she has been told Christmas was here early this year. She looked so excited, nearly vibrating with energy, that even her companion was edging slowly away from her; afraid she was going to hit him in the face if she gesticulated too much. Tamiko couldn't help but smile in return; it was nice to feel appreciated.

"That's fantastic," Riko told her, "You and I would get along well together. Do you know the game well?"

"Yeah," Tamiko replied. She did know the game well; not only had she played it for the past 3 years, she was also the strategist of their team. She had to know the rules like the back of her hand in order to concoct strategies that did not violate the Code and gets them suspended. She also was responsible for pointing out any violation the opposite team made. Since she was able to move silently and tell the referee without anyone noticing, any team playing against them were always surprised that they can't seem to get away with anything. Their look of shock was a secret source of amusement for her. But she has to know the rules to make all that happen.

Instead of telling Aida all that however, Tamiko merely said: "I've read the Code Book."

"Great; that's the best we can hope for. I'll ask you some questions to see your level of understanding."

The next few minutes passed with Aida dishing out question after question and Tamiko answering them promptly and most importantly, correctly. Truth be told, Tamiko was actually pretty impressed with the level of difficulty of Aida's questions. Some of those were things that she would never know if she hadn't encountered those problems in middle school. Some involved details so specific that anyone who hasn't at least read the code twice, would not know. But Tamiko wasn't anyone; she knew her rules and she knew them well. It wasn't a surprise that at the end, both members were looking very impressed with her.

"Alright; the position is yours. I see I won't find anyone better even if I waited," she handed Tamiko a sheet to sign. Tamiko did what she was told and just as she was handing the completed sheet back, something caught her eyes. She could have sworn she saw Aomine's name on the sheet on top of the pile but before she could verify, it was snatched away as Hyouga gathered everything on the table and put it in his bag. Tamiko refused to gave in to her own delusions and ask him if he could show it to her. She was supposed to be moving on, and constantly thinking about Aomine and seeing him everywhere wasn't helping her case. God, she needed to get a grip on herself; this was getting ridiculous.

She was pulled back to reality when Riko said: "Tryouts at 4.30 today at the gym. As the assistant coach, you will have to meet me there around 4, right after homeroom ends. I'll tell you what to do."

After thanking them, Tamiko bid them goodbye.

Once she found a quiet place under an oak tree she sat down and took out her phone. She wanted to text Kise and tell him what happened. He probably would laugh at her luck; even she couldn't believe what had happened.

She was just about to open a text when, to her surprise, her phone vibrated in her hand, and with an incoming message from Kise himself. Talk about coincidences...

To: Tamiko K.

From: Kise R.

Message: Anything interesting happen today?

It should have been an innocent question, but with everything that occurred today, Tamiko couldn't help but be suspicious Her mind immediately turned to the two "Aomine" sighting as she was now calling them, and she could help but write back: "Why?"

Did Kise know about this? Was she actually right and it was really Aomine she saw? Did Aomine come to her school to try to apologize to her again? Was this a prank?

She waited patiently for an answer and frowned when she read: "Nothing. I have to go now. Have a nice day."

Her next messages were left unanswered and a call only led to Kise's voicemail. She tried again for another 15 minutes but after that decided to give up.

She was done with Aomine anyway; she didn't care what he did since she was moving on. Kise can keep his secrets; Tamiko wasn't going to waste time playing his game, she had a General Assembly to get to.

**To Be Continued…**

* * *

**Next chapter**: Let's just say Riko won't be the only one surprised by Aomine's apparence. And Kagami will discover just who Aomine really is.


End file.
